Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; January 11, 2017)

After hrs was the first to tell you that Rani Mukerji is making a comeback to the silver screen with a film to be directed by Siddharth P Malhotra (of We Are Family fame). Rani was last seen in Mardaani, after which she went on a maternity break. Now that her daughter Adira is over a year old, the actress is gearing up to face the cameras once again.

Says an insider, “Initially, Emraan Hashmi was to produce the film and also act in it. However, for some reason, he let go of the project and turned producer with another film. Siddharth approached Abhishek Bachchan next, but he kept dilly-dallying. And now, it is being produced by YRF with Rani as the central character.”

What’s interesting is that the film initially had the hero as the central character. Says the source, “The film revolved around a guy who has a disability wherein he uncontrollably jumped and shouted while talking. That’s why Emraan and Abhishek had shown interest. When Siddharth took the film to YRF, both Aditya Chopra and Rani liked the script. Adi agreed to produce the film, but asked Siddharth to change the protagonist — turn the hero into a heroine. That’s how Rani came into the picture (pun intended)!”

Now, the film with Rani will see her battling the disability and subsequently transforming into a cool teacher. In the past, Rani played a blind deaf-mute person in Black.